“Thanks to these trainings, I saved a child’s life!”. PCPM develops rescue in Tanzania

New professional equipment has been given to hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These are just the most necessary things, from syringes to professional oxygen equipment and ECG equipment. The entire project of the PCPM Foundation, which started last September and will last until the end of 2024, is financed by the Polish Aid program (MFA of the Republic of Poland). These aids are justified by the project coordinator, Aleksandra Mizerska: – Tanzanian hospitals’ emergency departments still lack quality equipment. And she announces that in the near future the PCPM Foundation wants to equip them with, among other things, syringe pumps and cardiac monitors. – The project fits perfectly with the Tanzanian government’s program to renovate and build new emergency departments. Our task is to ensure that these wards do not shine empty – adds Aleksandra Mizerska.

However, in the emergency medical system, in addition to equipment, professional staff is also very important. The PCPM Foundation’s project began in September 2022, and focuses its main activities on supporting the emergency medicine sector in the Dar es Salaam region – Tanzania’s largest city. The PCPM Foundation will equip hospital emergency departments with equipment. This is a strong support to the local emergency medical system. Above all, however, it organizes and conducts training courses that greatly improve the effectiveness of the assistance Tanzanian rescuers provide.

In March 2023, the Polish Center for International Aid conducted fifteen training courses in basic resuscitation procedures (known as BLS) in Tanzania. In addition to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, trainees also learn how to properly contact the injured person, how to feel the pulse and how to perform artificial respiration correctly. This increases the chances of survival of the injured. Each such training course was attended by 10 people, medics of various specialties, not always having the chance to gain knowledge of emergency medicine. Significantly, the Foundation wants to train 60 instructors, 120 members of the emergency services and 1,000 medical workers as part of the entire project.

“THANKS TO PCPM, I SAVED A CHILD’S LIFE”

One of the hospitals engaged in training is Mwananyamala Regional Referral Hospital. In early March, the hospital brought in an 8-year-old whose heart was beating slower and slower every minute until it came to a full stop. Innocent Douglas, who is a nurse at the hospital, had undergone training a few days earlier to deepen his CPR skills. In addition, he learned how to do this type of procedure more efficiently, but most importantly, more confidently. As Innocent himself stated, thanks to the PCPM training, he was able to approach the young patient more efficiently and thus save his life. After the child’s cardiac arrest, the nurse intubated the child, who had stopped breathing.

– The young patient started breathing on his own after three hours. This is a big step forward – said Innocent Douglas, who learned intubation as well as CPR at training courses organized and conducted by the PCPM Foundation thanks to financial support from Polish Aid.

– The BLS training that the Foundation organized helped me a lot. I would like to thank my superiors for choosing me specifically to learn new skills. At this training, the whole team really helped me learn. Therefore, I have a request to the PCPM Foundation that you continue this training and prepare even more medics in Tanzania for such situations and rescue operations – added Innocent Douglas.

In addition to training and equipping hospitals, the PCPM Foundation is building a training center at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam. This is a very important undertaking, as it allows local people to pass on the knowledge they have gained. – We are keen to make sure that the knowledge gained by the Tanzanians stays with them for longer. We are training them, but we are also training instructors who will further develop the skills of the new medics – said Adam Kukliński of the PCPM Foundation. – We already have a building selected for redevelopment and a specific site on which the training center will be built.

The PCPM Foundation project is financed by Polish Development Assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland in the amount of PLN 4,923,722.